Ar tonelico's main flaw is the fact this game is INSANELY EASY. However the game's storyline, musics (and the Hymmnos language used in most of them), world's lore and main characters' development compensates this flaw nicely.

Another PS2 gem. Fantastic story, interesting gameplay and characters. Music is fantastic. An entirely new language was created for it and that just shows how much effort and love the developers put in the game.

All in japanese games start with characters.
And this exactly that type of game, where the characters and story governs the gameplay. But it's not bad, you know? If you into storytelling games, like To the Moon, or Telltale games, or visual novels (or classic jrpg's like Grandia!) - you will find this game quite attractive, seriously.
P.S. I'm not finished the game, though. When I facedAll in japanese games start with characters.
And this exactly that type of game, where the characters and story governs the gameplay. But it's not bad, you know? If you into storytelling games, like To the Moon, or Telltale games, or visual novels (or classic jrpg's like Grandia!) - you will find this game quite attractive, seriously.
P.S. I'm not finished the game, though. When I faced the situation where I need to make a choice, who of the two characters will leave my group, I decided to give up, since such injustice i can't bear. But maybe this will tell you, how good are characters writing in this game. Thanks for reading.…Expand

Ar Tonelico pretty much has it all. The story and especially pacing is fantastic; the music is truly special, the battles are incredibly engaging via the Revyatelis, and the art is simply gorgeous. [Feb 2007, p.36]

If you're looking for a light RPG, then Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia definitely fits the bill because it's cheerful, well animated and utterly predictable. Combat is a breeze, even if you're farming for items, and the plot is lackluster at best.